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At a Glance 

Knowledge Co-construction is a concept and opportunity where learners learn from one another to expand their knowledge. It is a collaborative process that produces new knowledge based on each other's ideas and thoughts.

“Shared spaces can become the locus of rich and satisfying experiences in collaborative learning, an interactive group knowledge building process in which learners actively construct knowledge by formulating ideas into words that are shared with and built on through the reactions and responses of others” (Stacey 1999, p. 4).

This toolbox explores four different ways students can use technology to co-construct knowledge in your course:

A Closer Look 

Learning environments are rapidly changing in the modern world. Student engagement and communication are critical to learning. Vygotsky’s ideas of the ‘zone of proximal development’, considers what a student can do if aided/guided by peers or adults. By considering this model for learning, we might consider collaboration to increase a student’s awareness of other concepts (Wertsch, 1984). 

The following activity ideas below help you leverage available technology tools to maximize student engagement, communication, and learning.

Activity 1: Co-authoring documents

Sharing is key to community building in a classroom (Palloff & Pratt, 2006 as cited in Vesely, Bloom & Sherlock, 2007). Offering students the ability to co-author and share ideas broadens and deepens their learning.

Microsoft Tools

• Microsoft Teams -  provides a highly inclusive and comprehensive engaging environment and a hub for teamwork with services such as SharePoint, OneDrive and other apps that help people to work together to collaborate seamlessly and stay connected (sharing, storage, whiteboard, text chat, audio, video).
• OneDrive - OneDrive offers many opportunities to co-author via a shared storage area that connects to Office 365 tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others.
  • For best results, have students check to ensure that they all have editing privileges to the correct documents.
  • Supported file formats: .docx (Word), .pptx (PowerPoint), and .xlsx (Excel).
• SharePoint -  has many uses, one of which is to allow you to that organizes and displays your OneDrive files.
• OneNote class notebooks -  offers a workspace for every student, content library, and collaboration space for creative activities.
• What makes OneNote Classroom unique? 

It is through the creation of a sense of shared values and shared identity that we feel a sense of belonging – a sense of community. The root word of community is communicating, which means to share

 (Palloff & Pratt, 2006 as cited in Vesely, Bloom & Sherlock, 2007).

• OneNote Features  

  • Powerful drawing tools to highlight, annotate slides, sketch diagrams, and handwritten notes 

  • Seamless inclusion of audio and video recordings to create interactive lessons for students 

  • Swift and easy gathering of web content 

  • Web content is automatically acknowledged so there are no copyright infringements

  Examples of best uses  

  • Class notes/note taking/lecture notes 

  • Recipes 

  • To-do lists  

  • Sketches
  • Shared Notebooks for Brainstorming ideas or real time collaboration 

  • Using it as a wiki. OneNote can update and save in real time. One can link other apps in the suite. 

  • Managing various class projects i.e., just like a project management tool.

Canvas Integration Tools

• VoiceThread, GoReact, Discussions, OneDrive) – For activities that are reflective in nature, activities that require construction of thoughts, and responses to other participants’ thoughts. Blogs and journals encourage students to clearly express their ideas. 
  • Examples of Best Uses:

    • Reading responses, reflective journals, and other writing exercises to be shared by students  

    • For writings that are primarily text  

    • Graded assignment or gather opinions and information 

• – When you want students to carry on discussions online, at any time of the day or night, both synchronously and asynchronously. The discussion is recorded on the course site for all to review and respond at their convenience. 
• When you want to build a community of collaboration and learning where you need students to build a vast compilation of information that serves as a repository of some kind. 
  • Examples of Best Uses:

    • Best used for small projects when used in conjunction with other Canvas features.  

    • Can be created for the entire class or for student groups; for course-wide access or just for a specific project  

    • Group projects with rubrics

Activity 2: Knowledge sharing

• Yammer –  is Microsoft’s company-focused social networking tool. Microsoft search helps find information, answers, and experts across the organization. Microsoft integrates Yammer into search results allowing messages and conversations to be indexed and searched.
  • Best uses:
    • Group work – Yammer can be used create thematic groups e.g., language exchange, travel, instructional design, etc. These groups can be used to nurture and reinforce a culture of trust and sharing.
    • Use of Topics (aka ) – can be used to mark posts with relevant keywords to make them discoverable. Students can gather important information for their project related (Hashtags).
    • – These features have long been overlooked.
      • Polls can be used to anonymously collect information from your Yammer network. Students or instructors can initiate polling activities to make learning fun.
      • The praise feature can be used to give positive feedback, create connections, and promote positive behaviors with a simple click.
• MS Teams  
  • Examples of Best Uses

    • Use shared OneDrive documents for collaboration  

    • Channels for students to share their work with the class. 

    • Screensharing PPT presentations, documents, videos, and utilizing the chat feature for comments and brainstorming ideas.  

• SharePoint hub – Requiring some heavy setup, is a tool that allows you to create a polished-looking website based on materials you have saved to a Group or Team. 

Activity 4: Synchronous meetings

Of course, having conversations with one another is one of the best ways to collaborate and learn. For more ideas on how to run your synchronous class meetings, review our Digital Toolbox on Delivering Synchronous Instruction.

References